Grand Rapids Game of the Week

GRAND RAPIDS – West Ottawa is hosting Grand Haven in Friday’s MLive/Grand Rapids Press Game of the Week, and it will serve as the regular-season finale for both teams.

While the Panthers have already wrapped up the OK Red Conference championship, there is still plenty riding on it for both teams.

*The Panthers, 15-3 overall, are 9-0 in the Red, so a victory will enable them to finish league play undefeated. West Ottawa has reeled off 13 straight wins, so they will look to keep their momentum going heading into next week’s district tournament at Jenison.

*True, Grand Haven has surrendered the Red crown after going undefeated in league play a year ago. But Grand Haven, the two-time defending Class A state champions, is 15-4 overall, so the Bucs are hoping for another long postseason run. A win over West Ottawa would enable the Bucs to head into next week’s district tournament at Reeths-Puffer on a great note.

“We are really excited to play them,” Grand Haven coach Katie Kowalczyk-Fulmer said. “When you are getting ready for districts, you want to play the toughest teams. The game doesn’t mean anything for us in the league because they have already won it. But it would mean something if we can knock them off. It’s important to have a good game going into districts against a good team.

“We don’t have anything to lose. It’s a Friday night basketball doubleheader in the OK Red. We just want to go out there and give it our best effort and gain some momentum heading into districts and make another run in the state tournament. I think it will be a great high school basketball game.”

West Ottawa drained seven 3-pointers in its 37-23 victory at Grand Haven on Jan. 31, while the Buccaneers were 0-for-7 from the 3-point range. Grand Haven is going to have to do a better job on the perimeter and pick up its pace on offense.

“(West Ottawa coach) Jenna (Plewes) has done a great job with them,” Kowalczyk-Fulmer said. “They are well-coached and deep.”

Friday’s game was voted the MLive/Grand Rapids Press Game of the Week after winning an online poll. The game received 4,838 of the 9,679 votes cast, beating out the second-place game featuring Cedar Springs at Northview (3,873).

Here is a closer look at Friday’s game.

Grand Haven (6-3, 15-4) at West Ottawa (9-0, 15-3)

The lowdown: The Panthers captured their first OK Red championship since 1986 with this past Friday’s 45-28 victory over East Kentwood. West Ottawa, which has won 13 straight after a 2-3 start, is averaging 47.1 points while giving up 31.8 per contest. Grand Haven has won six of its past seven games, and the Bucs’s defense has been nearly as tough as West Ottawa’s since they are allowing 33.8 per game. But Grand Haven has struggled at time offensively. The Bucs failed to break 27 points in two of their losses.

Keys: Grand Haven’s Taylor Craymer, who is averaging 14 points and seven rebounds, picked up her third foul in the first minute of the second quarter in the Bucs’ 37-23 loss to West Ottawa on Jan. 31. Two of Grand Haven’s top six players have been lost for the season due to injury, so the Bucs can’t afford to get into foul trouble in Friday’s rematch.